Chapter 7 - The Bloodline's Fury
The battle for the Duca penthouse was swift, brutal, and absolute.
Down in the concrete safe room behind the wine cellar, Elena sat on a small bench, holding Mia tightly against her chest. The muffled sounds of gunfire and heavy explosions rattled the thick steel door above them for twenty minutes before plunging the space into dead silence.
An hour passed. Every second felt like an eternity. Elena held the heavy sapphire ring against her lips, praying silently in the darkness.
Finally, the electronic lock on the steel door chimed. The heavy door swung open with a hiss of released air.
Alessandro stood in the doorway.
His shirt was torn at the shoulder, dark blood smearing his forearm and jawline, but his eyes were clear, steady, and entirely focused on her. Behind him, the hallway was silent, guarded by a dozen heavily armed Duca soldiers who stood at absolute attention.
“Alessandro!” Elena cried, springing from the bench.
She didn't care about the blood or the smell of gunpowder clinging to his clothes. She threw her free arm around his neck, burying her face into his shoulder. Alessandro wrapped his large arms around her and Mia, pulling them close against his chest, letting out a long, ragged breath.
“It is over,” he whispered into her hair. “The building is clear.”
“Luca?” she asked, her voice trembling.
Alessandro’s grip tightened slightly. “He was captured in the alleyway behind the garage by my perimeter guards. Valenti’s rogue lieutenants have been eliminated.”
He pulled back slightly, looking down into her pale, worried face. “Luca is in the basement, Elena. I left him alive because... he is her father. I will leave his fate to you.”
Elena looked at Alessandro, then down at Mia, who was looking up at her with big, innocent eyes. She remembered the terror of the past year—the fear of being hunted, the shame of being abandoned, and the endless nights spent wondering if she would survive.
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“I don't want to see him,” Elena said softly, her voice filled with absolute clarity. “Exile him. Strip him of everything and send him far enough away that he can never see the sky of this city again. He is nothing to us.”
Alessandro studied her face for a long moment before nodding gravely. “It shall be done.”
